Thoughts on John 5:16

Posted on 02/07/2012 by remso

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(John 5:16) So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jews persecuted him.

Jesus comes into the pool area, on purpose, but we do not really know that. God has a reason for everything, and this may be no different.

Did he pick out the man and the site because it represented how broken and abused the Jews and their religion were at the time?

Was the man singled out, like Judas, knowing that he would rat out the Savior after being healed?

The man was clearly a Jew, because the first place he goes after being healed is the temple. I suppose it is like being in shock after a car crash, you may not make the clearest decisions, but you go to the familiar place, in his case the temple.

Had he been put out and declared unclean because of his illness, and was now going to the temple to show them, hoping to be declared clean, and reestablished back into the community.

The crazy part of his return to the temple is that he carried his mat with him. That mat had been his close friend for many years, and he may not be thinking so straight.

Now to give him the benefit of the doubt I will use myself as an example. Working at the hardware store I am asked for help constantly. I listen to the customers descriptions to find out what they need from me (Jesus asked questions of others about the man). If I do not understand (the vague way the man answered Jesus makes me think that he did not understand either) I continue to ask questions until I see that I am not going to get any further (When the man responded, logically, but indirectly, to Jesus question about being well, Jesus changed tactics and ordered him to his feet). At that point I run with what I know. The problem with that is that the picture in my head may lead me to grab the objects at hand, because they are familiar, they make sense, but they have led me in the opposite direction of where I need to be.

If you did not know who healed you, or how, and you were a Jew, what might you do? Go to the temple. At this point what else does he have, family? I do not think so, for he said he had no one to put him in the water.

Back to the verse. “… because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath,..”

What did Jesus do? He came, he saw, he asked questions about the man, he healed the man, and he told him to take up his bedroll.

Carrying the bedroll around on the Sabbath was a bad thing. Jesus knew the law, he spoke it; everyone else knew that, and yet the man did it anyway. Why? At least he was obedient.

Exodus 20:10 (NIV) “but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates.”

Jeremiah 17:21 (NIV) “This is what the LORD says: Be careful not to carry a load on the Sabbath day or bring it through the gates of Jerusalem.”

Deuteronomy 5:13 (NIV) “Six days you shall labor and do all your work,”

This passage is difficult, for we want to understand what was happening here.

It appears that Jesus broke his own laws. Fortunately for us he answers the ensuing questions shortly.

“..because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jews persecuted him.”

Again, what were the things?

He healed on the Sabbath, and that may have been perceived as work. It must have meant something else to the religious community.

Think about the cleansing process. Mark gives us a clue when he shows us the man coming to Jesus and asking him if he would make him clean. That responsibility fell upon the priesthood, and yet Jesus did it. Jesus pointed out how corrupt they were, and we may have seen a part of his anger over their corruption when he cleaned the temple of money changers and animal sellers.

But he did something else, he ordered the man to pick up his bed and walk.

The word in Greek, that was translated persecuted, is dioko, and means to pursue. By implication – to persecute.

They certainly intended to persecute him, but until then they began to follow him with the intent to overtake him. This is shown by the fact that they showed up everywhere he went, trying to trip him up, and catch him saying something that they could have him killed for.

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You will never believe this, unless someone shows it to you.

Posted on 02/04/2012 by remso

Acts 13:14-41

I knew I could not do it. I jumped back into the book of Acts once again, determined to read through it briskly. What a joke that is for me.

As I sat a dinner reading, and yes, marking up my bible, a couple walks in. He must have noticed the bible right off the bat, either that or he was just friendly, because he gave me a nod. About 15 minutes later he walked over to the table, and asked the usual question, “That is a bible, right? Are you a pastor?” Yes, this is a bible, and no, I am not a pastor.

I know what is on my mind when I approach somebody reading what appears to be a bible. I really want to hear them tell me how great their God is. Perhaps it would be best if I did not put my ideals on others. What I mean is, this dear man may have just wanted to make an acknowledging contact; that seems benign enough. But here you are talking to me, and with no purpose?

Seriously, – I am reading the book of Acts now, and though I have read it many times, it has come alive like never before. I feel as though I have looked through God’s lens as Peter came off that rooftop in Joppa, and as I have read Paul I see that he let no opportunity slip by. If you walked up to his table, you were going to get Jesus Christ preached to you.

I will warn you now. If you open the door in front of me, I will walk through it, and I did with this man. There was an awkward moment of silence, as the mind, unprepared, decides what to say next. He said, “I am a Christian too.” I said, “then you should be aware that the King is coming quickly, and it is imperative that we put out the clarion call for people to get ready.”

He just stood there looking at me. A couple of seconds passed when I said, “then let me point something out to you. Matthew 25 tells us of ten virgins with oil lamps, all intending to go to the wedding, but five run out of oil. The remaining five were called in and the door was closed behind them, leaving the other five effectively locked out. I do not know with certainty what that oil is, but I know I want it. I believe that it is vital, and necessary. What if that oil is nothing more than zeal, passion, desire, attentiveness, and drive to have all of Jesus Christ that a man can handle?”

(If you have an understanding of God’s word then your head should be screaming at you, at this point. We are told that our cup will overflow, and that out of our inner being will flow rivers of living water. So, I implore you to pursue all you can get.)

Again, he just looked at me. A couple of seconds passed and he said, “I go to the Baptist church over here in San Dimas.” Our conversation was over, and he went back to his table. Strangely, even though I invited back to sit with me anytime you see me, he never made eye contact again, but his wife did.

(As an addendum – I had my father read this just to see if I am making any sense. Trust me, he will tell me if I do not. The first thing he says is, “you were too harsh on that man.” Yes, Paul was way to harsh on the Jews as well, but then that is my opinion and not Gods. What did Jesus tell them? Look it up – Matthew 10:34-37.)

I made it to Acts chapter 13.

Something that is dominant in my thinking is that the Apostles, and the multitudes of disciples, did not have Bibles, they were the bible. The acts that they did, in faith, were becoming the bible. Really, they were our examples of what to do.

What advantage did they have?

For several years the Apostles had the idea that God only intended this message for the Jews; after all He was their messiah. The Jews understood the serious nature of their status, and mandated that Jewish children go to synagogue schooling, where they were required to memorize, and have a working knowledge of the law and prophets. Saul/Paul was an honor student, with high hopes. He may have had dreams of becoming the high priest someday, I do not know, but I know he was good.

You saw evidence of this education as Stephen gave the high council a precise history of Israel, and included some things that are not common knowledge to us, but caused these learned men no grief. Now we see Saul/Paul, entering into the synagogue in Antioch, on the Sabbath, along with Barnabas. Paul too is about to deliver a history lesson, but this time with a spin on it.

I have a moment’s hesitation as Paul, who moved quickly into the realm of the Gentiles, is now doing what I perceive as something that would exclude the gentiles from receiving the message.

Paul’s “habit” of entering the synagogue tells me that there something richly important that we are missing, by not understanding the Jewish traditions, and that preaching to the house of Israel is still vitally important to him.

As you read through the passage you will see Paul do something else that puzzles me, for he addresses the “Men of Israel and you Gentiles who worship God,”. Gentiles were not allowed in the synagogue, but converted ones were. Who were these men? Our clue comes from the phrase “who worship God,”.

The gospel had been preached in Antioch by Paul and Barnabas for about a year,and I can assure you that they made a huge impact.

As I noted earlier, the early church was the bible that we now read, so they were preaching a good news of Jesus Christ, with signs and wonders following.

What is good news to a legalistic Jew? Freedom. They knew that sacrifices were only temporary relief from a bondage to sin. They understood this better than anyone. That is why they made more rules, bringing more bondage.

What is good news to a person who does not live under the laws? Health, love, freedom from mental anguish, knowledge that there is a hope, and the understanding that they can have a peace with God.

So what do we see happening in the early church? They followed Jesus example of going about and doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil.

What we see is action!

Open your bibles and let’s dive in.

Bracketed and italicized wording is mine.

Acts 13:14-41 NIV From Perga they went on to Pisidian Antioch.

On the Sabbath they entered the synagogue and sat down.

  1. After the reading from the Law and the Prophets, the leaders of the synagogue sent word to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have a word of exhortation for the people, please speak.”

    [Perhaps they have a guest speaker policy in this synagogue. I noticed that Paul and Barnabas came in and quietly sat down to listen and I suppose, take part. When the leadership called upon Paul and company to speak they opened the door, and Paul walked through it.]

  2. Standing up, Paul motioned with his hand and said: “Fellow Israelites and you Gentiles who worship God, listen to me! (17) The God of the people of Israel chose our ancestors; he made the people prosper during their stay in Egypt; with mighty power he led them out of that country; (18) for about forty years he endured their conduct in the wilderness; (19) and he overthrew seven nations in Canaan, giving their land to his people as their inheritance. (20) All this took about 450 years. “After this, God gave them judges until the time of Samuel the prophet. (21) Then the people asked for a king, and he gave them Saul son of Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin, who ruled forty years.

    (22) After removing Saul, he made David their king. God testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.’

    [After, is from the Greek word – kata: meaning “according to”. Jesus was precisely this. God himself honored his Son in saying that he was well pleased. Jesus told them that he only did the Father’s will. Acts 13:22 KJV ….. a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfill all my will.]

(23) “From this man’s descendants God has brought to Israel the Savior Jesus, as he promised.

[Matthew 1:1-16 The lineage of Joseph. Luke 3:23-38 pulled from Mary’s family lineage.]

(24) Before the coming of Jesus, John preached repentance and baptism to all the people of Israel. (25) As John was completing his work, he said: ‘Who do you suppose I am? I am not the one you are looking for. But there is one coming after me whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.’

[John the Baptist spoke of his coming.]

(26) “Fellow children of Abraham and you God-fearing Gentiles, it is to us that this message of salvation has been sent.

[The Jews were the ones chosen by God. As you read through the book of Acts you see some exclusivity on the part of the early church and it’s leadership. Peter’s vision of the unclean things, made it clear that all were included.]

(27) The people of Jerusalem and their rulers did not recognize Jesus, yet in condemning him they fulfilled the words of the prophets that are read every Sabbath.

[The blindness is suffocating. How is it that you can read it, and not see it. They carried out what God had planned like a skilled actor.]

(28) Though they found no proper ground for a death sentence, they asked Pilate to have him executed.

[Matthew 27:16-23; Mark 15:7-14; John 18:40; Acts 3:14]

(29) When they had carried out all that was written about him, they took him down from the cross and laid him in a tomb.

[God so prescribed their every action, even to laying him in a tomb.]

(30) But God raised him from the dead,

[Decisively]

(31) and for many days he was seen by those who had traveled with him from Galilee to Jerusalem. They are now his witnesses to our people.

[This is one of the establishing aspects that anchors our hope and faith, that what He said is true. I will come back for you so that you may be with me.]

(32) “We tell you the good news: What God promised our ancestors (33) he has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising up Jesus. As it is written in the second Psalm: “‘You are my son; today I have become your father.’

[What God promised, he has fulfilled. He has kept his word, and he proved it by raising Jesus from the dead.]

(34) God raised him from the dead so that he will never be subject to decay. As God has said, “‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings promised to David.’

(35) So it is also stated elsewhere: “‘You will not let your holy one see decay.’

[Having become one in Christ through faith in him, are we not now the holy ones? If so then we will not see decay either.]

 (36) “Now when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep; he was buried with his ancestors and his body decayed. (37) But the one whom God raised from the dead did not see decay.

(38) “Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you.

(39) Through him everyone who believes is set free from every sin, a justification you were not able to get under the law of Moses.

(40) Take care that what the prophets have said does not happen to you:

(41) “‘Look, you scoffers, wonder and perish, for I am going to do something in your days that you would never believe, even if someone told you.'”

 We Christians should all understand that we have obtained forgiveness of sins through Jesus, but for some reason, we act like it is temporary. We worry about our state of readiness; we preach about sin in our churches, as though there are some that are not so proficient at it. LISTEN, we all know how to sin, we do it daily, our selfishness proves that out. We were born in sin, almost like that chicken you are making soup out of. BUT, the message of Jesus is good news.

Allow me to state it one more time, loudly. Through him everyone who believes is set free from every sin.If we are to believe his word then we have to believe it all. If we are to preach good news then lets preach it all.

I must tell you a story that I have told before; perhaps this is new to you. As a young man, growing up in church, we were “forced” to go out to neighborhood doors, and try to win the lost, and get them into church by preaching this “good news” that we were taught.

I do not remember any door but one. I was so shy back then, and desperately wanted to fit in. I considered many of these kids to be cool, even when they were necking under the blankets on the church bus.

We approached a door, and a hippie popped his head out. (This was the late 60’s the age of Aquarius, get it.) He listened politely to the spill and said no thank you.

 What were we offering him?

I do not even know, but the reaction of the others to his polite rejection was atrocious, as they now threw rants at him about his going to hell. They all left, and I just stood there. I think mostly from shock. I would not have appreciated any of that either. He turned to me and said, “what do you have to say?”, I said, “I am so sorry”, and I turned and walked away.

I will tell you this, that incident scarred me. I have never wanted to see that happen again, and I have never wanted to be a part of anything like that.

A little time has passed since I started this paper, and another incident occurs to me. I had gone to a Christian retreat in the mountains. I really love being there. I believe this might have been my second time, so it did not have that rookie feel to it. Chow line was always long, but there was always a mountain of food. You could get involved in some great conversations or listen in on others. This particular year there were some “bikerish” looking Christians there. This idea that we have to keep up our intimidation appearance puzzles me. These guys are preaching to the choir, in a sense, for they were pushing a technique for bringing people to the Lord, coercing them to admit their rotten sinful ways. I understand, more now than before, what they were doing. They were trying to light a fire, as I do, but after moving out in the Holy Spirit with an acquaintance of theirs, they pulled me into their circle under false pretense and started this garbage on me. Perhaps I was not as sanctified as I thought, but I told them that what they did in asking over to their table was deceptive and wrong. I rudely got up and walked away.

 Coming to realize that Jesus Christ paid a sufficient price for the worlds sins, makes me think that our approach to the world is completely backward. Paul told those self-righteous Jews, and devoutly religious Gentiles, that anyone who believes in Jesus Christ, the last sacrifice, is from that point forward completely freed from sin.

 How is that possible?

It is so because either Jesus was enough, and we know he was, or this whole thing is a farce and there is nothing but the hell that this earth has to offer.

 Do you not begin to see why God had the prophet make such a statement. ‘I am going to do something in your days that you would never believe, even if someone told you.’ Many of you reading this have said in your hearts, that this is not so, but it is. I know this because I listen to the radio pastors constantly preaching about sin. Why don’t they try preaching about life, and hope, those are the things people struggle with; sinning is easy, living victoriously is hard.

The people milling about around you, have been forgiven, they merely need to know it, and accept the one who paid for it. This should change and turn your world upside.

 Preach Jesus, the same Jesus who went about doing good, and healing all who were oppressed of the devil. This last half of this sentence is whole other can of worms, but if you are paying attention, anyone who needs a healing has the devil tormenting them in some form.

Preach Jesus – He came as stated; he did what he said he would do; he followed the Father’s will explicitly; he was murdered according to scripture; he rose from the dead, just as he said he would; he came back and was witnessed by over 500+ people (Paul knew some of these guys.); he sent the Holy Spirit, as he said he would, and he is coming back for us, to rescue us from the wrath that is to come, so that we can be with him in heaven, as he said.

 He is coming back for those who wish to be his bride, and pursue him. Everyone else, though not judged for sins, will not have the opportunity to escape through the grace we now have, but will have to prove their allegiance, most likely, at the edge of a sword.

 Preach Jesus, for there is life and freedom in him alone.

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Now is the time to step forward.

Posted on 01/31/2012 by remso

I chose to return recently to a bible study that I was a regular attendee at for several years. I left because I wanted depth and I was not getting it, so I moved on. I also had an irregular work schedule that kept me away at times.

I happen to think that God has everything planned out, and even my random choice to go the bible study that night was destined to be.

I walked in and found everyone intently writing something on paper. A couple of the men acknowledged me and one jumps up to give me a hug. I can be terrible at times, and so I started harassing them about taking a test and how the test is now over. They told me to wait and all would be explained in a moment, and, I would get to take part.

The exercise is one that missionaries have explained the Christians, in a particular communist country, with limited bibles, do.

They all copy the passage(s) exact, then recopy that verse in a way that they might use to share this truth with others on the street, and then make a point of putting it into practice throughout the week.

Here is the passage:

Ephesians 4:17-24 NIV So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. (18) They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. (19) Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed. (20) That, however, is not the way of life you learned (21) when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. (22) You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; (23) to be made new in the attitude of your minds; (24) and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

Asked to rewrite this, possibly like Eugene Peterson might. I wrote this.

Because God is that important to me, and I am deeply concerned about the condition of your soul, I implore you to not live as the world does.

I understand you want to be accepted and blend in, but you are choosing to follow their useless thinking when you do this.

Think about the things they say, it is proof that their way of thinking is clouded and their actions prove that God has no place in their lives. They will only bring you down to their level.

The pursuits of those that do not believe are evidence that they have given themselves over to selfish desires, and they do not care who they injure in their pursuits.

Greed consumes their every thought, as they go through life. It is only themselves that they think about.

Living a wretched life like this is not what I taught you. You have been taught to rise above.

Using Jesus as the example of a truthful, rich, full life I explained to you that there is hope and satisfaction in knowing Him.

Remember that I explained how you became remade at the moment you gave yourself to Christ; Christ, the one who loves you and gave himself for you, desiring only the best for you as you emulate his life.

Clinging to that old way of can do nothing more than destroy any progress you have made in him.

Pursue him wholeheartedly, allowing Him to create a new image on the inside of you and watch the changes overwhelm you as he trains you to be the king you were meant to be.

We then had to read this back to the group.

I will tell you that I wrote as if God/Paul had talked to me, and I was in tears before I could finish writing. When I read it back I was in tears, because it spoke to me as well.

God moves through me as I give out words of encouragement to people.

This gift, if you must call it something, is not that difficult, for Revelation 19:20 tells us that the testimony of Jesus Christ, is the spirit of prophecy. Therefore, if you give someone encouragement from scripture, are you not prophesying over them. Declaring those things that be not, as though they were.

I stepped forward and spoke specifically into the lives of two men. Upon direction from the Holy Spirit, I asked the younger of them, what is your dream and hope for the future? He responded with, I want to be a drug and alcohol counselor. I immediately stood to my feet, commanded him to stand, and when he did not, walked over to him, held out my hand, and lifted him up. I spoke words of life and wisdom over him, and anointed him by the laying on of my hands, to walk in the ways and wisdom of the Lord.

What will become of him? That is God s business, for I did my job.

I am writing this down as a legacy and instructions.

God has called you forth, and you have struggled, not knowing what to do or who to ask. There may be no one human that will be able to give you the answers that you desire outside of the Holy Spirit, and there will be more than enough detractors, telling you that you cannot.

You are going to have to learn to trust the Holy Spirits ability to speak into your life. Ask him to speak to in simple matters, He will. You will then have act upon those things. Do not get stupid on me, be real and reasonable. You already know when to use the toilet, but there is no doubt that He can use that moment as well.

There is nothing that we do that does not have God’s hand involved.

Peter stood before the crowds, many of the detractors, and said,

Acts 2:13-17 NIV Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.” (14) Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. (15) These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! (16) No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: (17) “‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.

The last days are upon us, and that certainly includes you.

Now is the time for those who have the calling upon them, and those who want the best that God has to offer, to step forward. Be bold, and brave.

Will you suffer for it? No doubt. Killing off God s anointed has always been the response of the non-believing religious zealots.

Live for Him like there is no tomorrow. You will find it to be the most exhilarating thing you have ever done in your life.

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If my God gets magnified, then there is nothing minor about it.

Posted on 01/29/2012 by remso

 

A look into the book of Acts

Acts 7:42

Stephen, standing before the high council, is responding to their demand as to whose authority he is operating under.He presents them with the longest discourse in scripture, giving a fairly concise history of Israel.

Unlike the reaction that the Apostle got, where the council determined they were unlearned men, this is never said of Stephen. The things that Stephen said were not challenged until he pointed out that they were the murderers of Jesus Christ, the Just one.

Although I do not remember most of what he said, Dr. Chuck Misler, spoke about this discourse as one that carried the central themes, and some hidden treasures to be gleaned about Israel. An example: Stephen is the one that notes in Acts 7:18 that everything changed for Israel when “another king arose, which knew not Joseph.” Who was this guy? History has now shown us, but for centuries the answer to this question lay hidden in the earth.

Consider that gleaning comes after the normal harvest, and if you have witnessed a harvest then you know that something is always left, whether it falls to the ground, or is simply bypassed.

I got hooked into going to breakfast at the place where the “ex” goes. I used to go hang out there with the older men. Fortunately they are Christians, but we never talked about the goodness of God. Never! That did not stop me from trying, but I always got shot down. One of the brothers there had come out of a Christ based cult that operates in a militaristic fashion. In a sense he escaped. He now attends a church that is slightly more liberal, but still has a hard time with grace.

If I must be here then I will attempt to bring up my Lord, once again.

Don’t look at me like that! 

I have come to realize that it is not just me, but anyone who is enthusiastic about something (motorcycles, cars, sports) will talk about it, constantly. I don’t do sports! So, I took my bible and note pad. Bert (I will call him that to protect his secret identity – evil grin.) glared at me.

We talked about a gun that blew up because of Chinese bullets. He showed us a picture of it on his new phone; others talked about life in general. In the last couple of minutes that I was there, the opportunity arose to say something about my Lord so I pointed to my pad, mentioning that I write constantly, and this is one of the latest things I have been looking at, Stephens discourse to the high council.

Quickly pointing out the amazing wealth of information that one can gain from the briefest of stops. (An example for me is, writing six pages on one verse. Not that I set out to do that, but I write what the spirit is showing me.) My old buddy Bert (as Ernie from Sesame Street used to say.) immediately goes into a quiet tirade about people that major on minor things that are not essential to our Christian walk.

  1. That makes the huge assumption that you know what I am talking about. Seeing as I had not made any point at all before he jumped in, he was operating on pure assumption.
  2. If what I was talking about was so minor, and no I did not even get that out of my mouth before he dove in. Why then was it important enough for Stephen, under the influence of the Holy Spirit to divulge this information to the High council? And why does the Holy Spirit seem to think that we needed to know this? You cannot deny that it is in here. There is information given in Stephens discourse that we do not readily see anywhere else in scripture.
  3. I am standing right there in front of him, and yet he made his tirade generic, as though I did not exist, and therefore would not notice how extraordinarily hurtful his comment was, especially directed at another Christian.

“Why do people focus on minor things that have little to no impact on our Christian walk?”

I tapped on my pad, looked him in the eyes, and said, “are you talking about this scripture I am referring to?”If you have something to say, then say it to my face. I am not a good apologist and everyone around you will probably think that you won your battle by humiliating me, and really, isn’t that the point; you making every else think that your right and dominant. Perhaps then they will worship you too.

I just turned and walked out. Dad was the one that brought me, and he is now getting into his car. Catching up quickly, I reiterated to him why I will probably never go back there again.

A thought just popped into my head, so I am writing it. This example that I just gave is indicative of the Laodicean church. They are lukewarm, lazy, and do not care. I am not a pastor, for if I were then my heart would cry out daily in pleas for them to repent and return to the Living God. And yet, if you read my posts, I believe that this is exactly my heart.

I know this about me, I do not have the patience to beat my head against such walls of apathy.

If my God gets magnified then there is nothing minor!

Now to the passage.

Open your bibles to Acts 7:42. I always wanted to say that.

Acts 7:42 KJV Then God turned, and gave them up to worship the host of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets, O ye house of Israel, have ye offered to me slain beasts and sacrifices by the space of forty years in the wilderness?

 Before I carry on, I have something I need to say. I have been looking at this for several days, pondering its significance, and weighing the negative inputs. In other words I am taking an internal beating in which Satan, if I may say that, is trying to get me to back down.

I don’t know what to call it, depression, insecurity, or the possibility that my ex-girlfriend was right; I am just full of myself. If you knew me, then you would know how much of an internal struggle I go through, and what a lack of confidence I have.

It is the feedback that I get from others, across the globe, that tells me otherwise. I truly believe that I am doing what God has asked me to do. That being said, and gotten off my chest, I plow on.

Still considering Stephens recap of Israel’s history, he describes the scene when Moses comes off the mount to find most of Israel worshiping a golden calf that they created. (A sorry aspect of this scene includes Aaron’s lame excuse of throwing the gold into the fire, and this popped out. Who would have thought. – My judgmental side would have eliminated Aaron along with them.)

Stephen gets rather specific with the identities of these gods, Molech and Rephan.

Molech, though having several spellings is easy enough to find,

Molech – Fire-gods appear to have been common to all the Canaanite, Syrian and Arab tribes, who worshiped the destructive element under an outward symbol, with the most inhuman rites.

According to Jewish tradition, the image of Molech was of brass, hollow within, and was situated without Jerusalem. “His face was (that) of a calf, and his hands stretched forth like a man who opens his hands to receive (something) of his neighbor. And they kindled it with fire, and the priests took the babe and put it into the hands of Molech, and the babe gave up the ghost.” (Smith’s bible dictionary)

Leviticus 20:2-3 KJV Again, thou shalt saSvenska: Molok English: Molochy to the children of Israel, Whosoever he be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn in Israel, that giveth any of his seed unto Molech; he shall surely be put to death: the people of the land shall stone him with stones. (3) And I will set my face against that man, and will cut him off from among his people; because he hath given of his seed unto Molech, to defile my sanctuary, and to profane my holy name.

Leviticus 20:5-6 KJV Then I will set my face against that man, and against his family, and will cut him off, and all that go a whoring after him, to commit whoredom with Molech, from among their people. (6) And the soul that turneth after such as have familiar spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring after them, I will even set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people.

If this is what Moses saw, as he came down off the mountain, then it is surprising to me that Aaron was not consumed with most of Israel that day, or at the least, Moses did not throw the tablets directly at Aaron’s head.

Do you not begin to get a feel for God’s possible reasons for anger if he finds them;

  1. Acting against explicit instructions,
  2. Dancing around a cow headed idol called Moloch,
  3. Roasting their children in this monstrous things arms. All of which is horror, whether God told them not to or not. When you factor in Jesus receiving little children you should get a better feel for the heart and character of God.

Matthew 19:13-14 GNB Some people brought children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and to pray for them, but the disciples scolded the people. (14) Jesus said, “Let the children come to me and do not stop them, because the Kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

The word Rephan, which is the other name that the NIV translators used, has caused me some grief.

Just try and find a direct reference to this spelling; you won’t. The KJV spells it Remphan, and that one will score a hit in the Strong’s concordance. This is also a reference to Amos 5:26, but here the god mentioned is Chiun, the star god, which they made.

Two things to note here:

“…God turned, and gave them up to worship the host of heaven;..”

There is nothing polite about the word turned, as used here. The Greek word is strepho, meaning to literally turn  “worship the host of heaven”. That sounds benign enough, and after all, that is where God lives, right. But the inquiring mind should also be thinking about other aspects that have been included in the “host of heaven”.

  1. We know that there are a host of angels in heaven. The shepherds got a dose of their singing when Jesus was born.
  2. Originally Lucifer/Satan, along with another third of the “host of heaven” got tossed out.
  3. And there are the physical objects of heaven, such as stars, planets, and an expanding universe.

As I looked at translations that could help define this host of heaven aspect, it seemed that no one really hit the nail on the head for me, therefore I give you a couple of them.

Acts 7:42 GW “So God turned away from them and let them worship the sun, moon, and stars. This is written in the book of the prophets: ‘Did you bring me sacrifices and grain offerings in the desert for 40 years, nation of Israel?

 This would certainly be in line with the meanings implied in both the word Remphan and Chiun.

As I continued pondering this passage, the other aspect that jumps at me almost looks like a question. But why would God ask them a question, unless it is one that does not require an answer. When I looked at other translations it appears as a statement, and suddenly it makes not only more sense, but at the same time rocks my assumptions of how Israel lived, during those 40 years of wandering. I give you the adjoining verse to help clarify this.

Acts 7:42-43 CJB So God turned away from them and gave them over to worship the stars — as has been written in the book of the prophets, ‘People of Isra’el, it was not to me that you offered slaughtered animals and sacrifices for forty years in the wilderness! (43) No, you carried the tent of Molekh and the star of your god Reifan, the idols you made so that you could worship them. Therefore, I will send you into exile beyond Bavel.’

 Forty years of acting out a part. This tells me that the majority still had their hearts and heads embedded in Egypt, and the pagan ways they lived there. God rescued them for something better. My Sunday school education did not convey this to any degree. The way Israel performed is beyond my imagination. They carried, and set up their own temple to Molekh, at the same time Aaron was setting up God’s temple. This is something that you do not see until you get to Stephens discourse.

I can hear many of you challenging this concept. Even stating that if it is not clearly stated in scripture then it did not happen, and should not be considered. Consider this. Stephen made these statements before men more skilled in the law and prophets than he, and NONE of them contradicted or disputed with him about these aspects. They did have Stephen murdered because he called them murderers, in reference to Jesus.

“So God turned away from them and gave them over …” Verse 43 of chapter 7 says, “..Therefore, I will send you into exile beyond Babylon.”

If you have read the saga of Israel’s trek through the wilderness, did you ever see God leaving them, or abandoning them? No, and God does not lie, so you do eventually see them go into captivity.

This has to be another one of those situations where God makes a clear cut statement, but withholds his judgment, because of some act of repentance and contriteness of heart. Read the story, and you will find that the only heart that God gives consideration to is Moses, who pleads with God on behalf Israel.

If you are looking for an example to back this concept up then look no further than Jonah.

Jonah’s entire angst over delivering this prophetic word of destruction, which he most likely was all in favor of, had to do with his understanding that God would show these people mercy, which is exactly what he did, at that time. Don’t kid yourself, God did not let their bad behavior pass. Nineveh was consumed, and only recently have they uncovered traces of that place.

There has to be point or there is no purpose. In reading a book about better writing, they instruct you to know your audience. Do I know you? Only in the spirit. God has been very specific about telling me about you. There are those who have a strong understanding of scripture and gain much encouragement from these words, but there are those who live there whole lives in church, dependent upon someone telling them what they can and cannot do. Does that mean you are incapable of making decisions? No, for some of you run your own businesses, but you do not have a clue as to the heart and character of God.

Many of you are absolutely shaken by the events around you, and know this, they are only going to get worse. In opposition to the unfounded belief that there is no hope for you if should miss the “rapture”. (Trust me on this, you will know when it happens, whether you go or stay.) The Holy Spirit is not taken off this earth, for God is continuing to draw people unto himself, and that is a clear cut act of the Holy Spirit.

Joel chapter 2 tells us:

Joel 2:28-29 KJV And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: (29) And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.

This entire chapter, which Peter quoted in the second chapter of Acts, saying, “this prophecy has been fulfilled in your ears”, is about the second coming of Jesus Christ, and is a time of judgment upon the earth, as well as a time of darkness and gloom. A time after the rapture of the church.

Those that come to him now, have the advantage of this age of grace that we are under. That all ends on that day. And anyone wishing to live a life with the Father, after the rapture, will have to pay full price for admission. Jesus paid with his life and blood so that we do not have too. I fully recommend that you take full advantage of that.

God turned his back on Israel, because they turned their backs on him. Will God turn his back on you? Never, for you see, Christ died for us while we were ungodly, and unlovable, paying that horrid price to give us life.

Religion will tell you that you are a sinner. Oh, you sin, of that there is no doubt, but God paid the price for that sin, regardless of when or where. Do your sins affect others? Certainly, are you stupid. You can see the look on their faces as they limp away, but for sin you will not be judged.

Religion will fight me on this. Why? Because religion does not believe that God is capable of doing what he said he would do, and that is not losing you to the world, and it’s ways. At some point you have to decide that God is big enough, and truthful enough to do what he said. He already proved himself when Jesus gave up his life on that cross.

Scripture does tell me that there is a judgment coming, but it is based upon people’s actions and heart. We are so ready to send people to hell. Yes, there is a hell, but it was not made for you, therefore you have the choice not to go there. Hell was made for Satan and the angels that rebelled against God. Those that follow him, are doing exactly what Satan had hoped for, and that was to make that loser their god. As a follower of Satan you are entitled to the same reward that he has coming.

The Great Tribulation time is not going to be anything less than horrific, but those that call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. There will be those that are not killed because of their (possibly new found) faith. And even then, I see a merciful God sorting out those that demonstrated a God like heart when they offered a drink of water, visited someone in prison, fed the poor, and generally acted in some manner other than pure selfishness.

Stephens discourse is meant to show us what not to do, plain and simple. Is it easy? Generally yes. Are there speed bumps along the way? Absolutely, but knowing that God will never leave you or forsake you should give you a little comfort, as you pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and re-educate yourself.

I wrote a note to a friend recently and quoted from a powerful source. Allow me to give it to you now.

Ten Bears: These things you say we will have, we already have.
Josey Wales: That’s true. I ain’t promising you nothing extra. I’m just giving you life and you’re giving me life. And I’m saying that men can live together without butchering one another.
Ten Bears: It’s sad that governments are chiefed by the double tongues. There is iron in your words of death for all Comanche to see, and so there is iron in your words of life. No signed paper can hold the iron. It must come from men. The words of Ten Bears carries the same iron of life and death. It is good that warriors such as we meet in the struggle of life… or death. It shall be life.
(Memorable quotes for The Outlaw Josey Wales)

Here is the truth in the above quote. No signed paper can hold the words of life, they only come from God. Fortunately he had those words put on paper so that we can quickly find them, and run back to the life in them. God words are words of iron. Do you realize what that means? Strength unimaginable. These are not mere words, but words paid for by the blood of His son. Paid for to guarantee a life for those who will run to the words of life.

Stephen told that council that God gave Israel lively words. When you pursue the depth of meaning in what Stephen said, you find that it means following those words, words of iron, bring life.

Run to life.

Posted in End times, Hope, Things I have never noticed before | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

It is not right that we should leave the word of God,

Posted on 01/24/2012 by remso

Looking at the book of Acts

Acts 6:2 KJV Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables.

As most of you know, Judas is no longer, and so the guys thought it made sense to replace him. It sounds like they flipped coins until it got narrowed down to Matthias. (I am sure I am over simplifying this decision-making process, but it says, after much prayer they drew lots, and Matthias was chosen.)

“Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples,…”

The twelve Apostles are now finding it necessary to delegate responsibility. It sounds as though they had done all the work, and it has begun to take them away from preaching (I will use the word here, but it is much to sterile. They were sharing the life they knew and understood. They shared what they learned at the feet of the Master.)

Whether they felt called to or not, the job of being a pastor, with all it’s demands was suddenly thrust upon them, and now it is taking a toll. Again, what would anyone of them have known of this? Nothing outside of watching Jesus communicate with people, both great and small. They watched how he cared for and loved the unlovely. They watched him respond to the request of the Roman centurion, and they saw what he did for the woman with the issue of blood. They saw the true pastor (a shepherd, in action.) Add to their education the fact that Jesus told them that the Holy Spirit (an unseen breath like entity, sent from God, in my name) would bring all the things that he had taught them back to their remembrance, and lead them and guide them into all truth. We also know that they watched him go up into the mount of Olives, his favorite place, to pray (communicate, speak with, listen to, and revitalize, because it had to have taken a toll on him too.)

I want to add something here. We hear the word prayer quite often, and if your like me, it means taking some huge space of time, secluded away from others, doing what?

Typically our prayers may be God help me, do you see what’s going on here, I am in so much pain. And while that is probably true, and not insignificant, it is only one aspect of prayer. I do not always seem to have the time to escape, and I find that after a while, even I get tired of hearing my whining about the pains, most of which I have brought on myself. While we all have issues that we need to take before God, (and I would suggest you do that before the mole hills turn into mountains,) things like the relationship break-ups, job stresses, anger, and tribulations because of the word (I get mocked upon occasion because of my sharing, but really it is nothing compared to what our brothers and sisters in Christ suffer in the middle east and African nations.)

So while I am walking around moping about the loss of a ten-year relationship with my girlfriend, (by the way, God is in control of that as well.) my Christian friend at work lost his best friend/wife to cancer. Suddenly my moping seems very insignificant. This event alone, more than any other caused me to refocus. I have now focused my prayers on things like: God use me, hopefully as some form of a good example; let my words bring life; give me a boldness like I have never known, and a backbone to stand in the face of tribulations.

Whether right or wrong, I find that when I pay attention, I have been praying all day long. I hear my spirit speaking about something, or talking to God about a customer that came through the store. I find myself with a compassion and love for the homosexual couples that I never had before. The world just wants to hate, not only them, but hate in general. Hate is so natural and easy. Now, how would I know this? I was taught by an expert, and I was good at it. To feel love and compassion, is to feel God’s heart. I know this because even in my worst moments I feel his arms being thrown around me.

We do know that over 3000 were added on the day of Pentecost. We also know that God was adding to the church daily. (Acts 2:47)

We do not know how many people are involved here, but where two or three people are gathered there can also be discord, and it did not take long.

 Acts 6:2 NIV So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables.

 One of the things I wanted you to see, even though this verse seems simple enough, is the word arestos. The KJV used the word reason.

Webster’s dictionary defines reason as: That which is thought or which is alleged in words, as the ground or cause of opinion, conclusion or determination.

To some degree I could see how this works, but my mind needs to have something more concrete. Thayer’s Greek definitions defines the word as agreeable. Now that makes volumes of sense to me. Considering the numbers of people who the Apostles are now having to deal with. Keep in mind that it says the disciples were now in the multitudes, and that was just the men folk they were counting, the logistics of what they were doing is becoming a full-time job in itself.

Did anybody else notice that service work is not necessarily what they were called to do.

Our focus now shifts.

“.. that we should leave the word of God, …”

Now the questions come.

One of the pastors that I am involved with uses the terminology “quiet time” to include his daily study time. During that time he is clearly looking at God’s word.

  1. Quiet time; is that what the Apostles are talking about?
  2. What is meant by “the word” here?
  3. These guys were bringing life and freedom to the new believers, many of which were Jews. Where did they get this information from?
  4. What kind of access did they have to the written word?
  5. If their access to the written word is limited, not only to them, but to their audience as well, then what are they relying upon?

In the passage given, the Greek for word is logomachia, meaning disputation or to strive about words. Using the word logomachia causes me a little grief, because I found it the Vine’s expository dictionary of New Testament words, and yet I could find no other reference stated in this exact way. What troubles me about this is not that Vine’s uses it, but that Pastors stand before us and say, “this is what the Greek word is, and what it means.” Even my Greek friend will give us the spectrum of meaning when defining a word for us. That does not cause confusion, but helps to clarify the definition.

An example of this spectrum came to me when I asked my Greek friend about the word “ministry” in Acts 6:2. The word in Greek is diakonia and means to be in attendance to as a servant.

But what is one of the typical things we picture when we hear someone say, “I am in the ministry.”?

Having been involved in a mega-church for a short period. I got the full dose of pastor talking about his Scottish golf vacation, his very expensive suits, and how disgusting it is to eat common food, from local restaurants. The implications of someone in that church, using the terminology ministry, has a huge price tag attached to it, and a snobbery that you could carry. This scenario is so far removed from what the word, in this verse means.

My point here is, that even a minimal grasp of how to look up things like this can help you comprehend how basic the motivation was, as the Apostles ministered the word.

To dispute with the word, sounds like a fight to me. Considering where they were standing most of the time (Solomon’s Porch), I would not be surprised, but fighting does not tend to win anyone over.

Apologists defend of the gospel, through knowledge, facts, evidence, and life application which occasionally takes on the argument status, but really, it is merely holding your ground against those who refuse to acknowledge truth. You are defending God’s word (Whether God needs it or not).

What we can learn is that the Apostles teaching was somewhat confrontational with Jewish leadership and apologetic at the same time.

They had no written word that they could carry around with them. The “word” was the scrolls in the synagogues. These were bulky, hand copied and rolled transcriptions of the Torah. Very few had a copy.

Considering that the scrolls only contained the law, that which brings about a sin conscience, these guys preached freedom from it.

How would one find freedom in the law? Only by knowing the character of the one who decreed it.

So what then did the Apostles mean when they said they should not leave the word of God.?

With only their memories, the Holy Spirit, and 3 years of walking with God himself, they taught the world. They had nothing else to lean on, but faith in the Holy Spirit, faith in their memories, the time they spent with Jesus, and the occasional access to the scrolls, if the priests allowed. They shared what they heard, and watched Jesus do.

The Apostles walked with Jesus, the Word, and they left that legacy for us in these words we get to carry called a Bible.

Posted in Things I have never noticed before, Thoughts on scripture | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

God’s word is alive, just ask Stephen.

Posted on 01/23/2012 by remso

Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost – A brief study in the seventh chapter of Acts.

False accusations have been brought against Stephen and now we find him before the high council of the Jews.

While most would react in anger, especially after being falsely accused, Stephen is just standing there placidly. So much so, that the scene is described as if they all saw the face of an angel as they glared at him.

Interesting, though the men with Daniel did not see the angel they fled in fear. Perhaps we are talking about a size issue. After all the men of Sodom went chasing after the angels that showed themselves there.

When the council finally asked Stephen to respond he gives them a very precise history of God’s hand in the salvation, sins, birth, and bondage of the nation Israel.

2 things have caught my attention as I read the seventh chapter. (I will pursue the second aspect in the near future, as exhaustion is rapidly gaining upon me.)

Acts 7:38 KJV This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and withour fathers: who received the lively oraclesto give unto us:

As I read through the various translations, one might say “living words”, and there should be no doubt that they are, while the other translates it as “life giving words.” Life giving has a completely different meaning.

The phrase lively oracles in Greek is: logia zonta – meaning living doctrines that give life upon obedience to them. Here, in this passage, the term applies to Moses’ law. “In Romans 3:2 it refers to the O.T., in general. In Hebrews 3:12 and 1Peter 4:11 it encompasses all of scripture.”(Vines expository dictionary of Bible words)

Romans 3:2 NIrV There is great value in every way! First of all, the Jews have been given the very words of God.

Hebrews 3:12 KJV Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.

1 Peter 4:11 NIV If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.

Considering that I never thought of the law as anything other than a form of bondage, I have to now re-think my understanding.

One of the things that crossed my mind a couple of years ago, as my bible study group stumbled through Romans, was that Paul taught these concepts that we read in Romans based upon the old testament law and prophets, of which he was very familiar, and a personal/spiritual meeting with the living God.

Conceptually, the idea of living doctrines conveys: teaching or instructions that are alive.

We perceive alive as something that breathes, moves, and has some variable, visible aspect like tree growth.

A tree might be a great example in that it, from a simple, miniscule start, develops into a foundational plant with developing characteristics of what it’s potential can be.

Does the tree change? Not in it’s designed characteristics. Initially it could look no different from any other tree until it leafs out. The changes in the tree are growth enlargements as it gets taller, wider, stronger, and with maturity, produces fruit.

Most trees go through seasons where they leaf out, drop their leaves, go dormant for a time, and then produce leaves again. An irony in our comparison could be the Sasanqua Camellia. For it’s dormant season, a time of presumed bleakness and inactivity, is when it produces it’s spectacular floral displays. Consider that when it comes to our lives in Christ.

If we have grown, allowing God and time to mature us, then when a time of dormancy occurs, all the work involved in that growth may now be producing some fruit or foliage in the life of someone completely out of our field of view.

As a side note: I really enjoy listening to Dr. Chuck Misler, and I heard him teach a bit on Stephen’s discourse a few years ago. I think Chuck says this about every aspect and book of the bible. Dr. Misler speaks as though Stephen’s exposition before the Jewish council is one of the most significant and revealing looks into the history of the Nation Israel.

I opted to read through the books of Acts, as I had not been here for a little while, and I knew that it would be refreshing. Much like the fact that Jesus did more things than the bible could hold, each trip through a book I have not visited for some time, reveals things like I have never seen them before. I had started a paper on an aspect of chapter six, which I will post in the future, but this one verse in chapter seven speaks volumes to me.

If you take the time to meditate upon it. Meditate: to chew upon it as a cow chews cud. (Now there is a visual for you.) It is stunning the things you find. I can now tell you with confidence that God’s word or law will bring life, but then why wouldn’t it, isn’t Jesus the Word, and life himself?

Enjoy the journey while we can. Next stop, heaven.

Hope to see you there.

Oz

Posted in Thoughts | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

You have done and said things!

Posted on 01/16/2012 by remso

This was written, and I attempted to post it on Sunday, 1/15/12, but either the internet, or WordPress was having an issue so I am  putting it up today. While some might say that the Lord did not want you to post it, another might say, that Satan did not want it posted. Roadblocks just tend to make me more determined, and beside, you either have faith or not, and I have faith that I heard God’s voice, and he told me that he wanted me to put this up. So, buckle up and hang on.

Sunday morning, and I am having a tremendous battle with depression. I did not sleep well, and had dreams that included stressful people in my life to add to it. I brought this on myself. Still, I got myself ready to go to church.

I have thought about being here, at this church, everyday since I learned that I would have the day off. What I love about this place is their heart for worship and the spiritual freedoms I find or should I say found here. (To be perfectly honest, I could go without most sermons.) At this place though, worship always gets my batteries recharged.

That being said, the depression like feelings were overwhelming this morning. I was there, but not in any mood to take part. Just the fact that I came should prove my willingness to allow God to bring about some form of healing in me.

Two things happened this morning in worship:

  • During worship I suddenly got quiet. At that moment the Spirit began to speak to me – I will elaborate in a moment.
  • The other thing is that someone, on stage, said, “nothing can separate you from the love of God.” Although that statement may be something that I am keenly aware of, (it has been a while since I dove into Romans.) and so remarkable that it should be a part of my everyday thinking, it did not cross my mind. Even if it had, would it have had the same effect prior to that moment?

As I stood in worship this Word began to come to me.

 “You have done and said things that caused great devastation, not only to those around you, but to your mind and spirit as well.”

 At this moment there are those that can totally relate to what I just said, and I feel that I am compelled to remind you, Nothing can separate you from the Love of God. I truly felt that this is what I was supposed to post.

As I stood hearing this, I said, “Lord my anger has surely driven people from you and made me look like a fool.”

As the Spirit replied, in my spirit I saw Peter in the garden that night slicing off the man’s ear.1 God said to me,

“in your time they call that attempted murder, and at the least assault, which carries a hefty prison term. Was I able to take care of that situation?”

 Of course my answer was yes.

 “Then give me the opportunity to take care of this, as well. As for those you feel you have chased away. They are in my hands and are not your concern. The choices they make about me are theirs alone.”

 “There is nothing to difficult for me.”2

 As he continued, he said,

“just as management asked you to not be angrily involved with that other employee, and you did that. I want you to remember how relaxed you became once you realized that someone else was in control and you did not have to worry about him anymore.
I am asking you now to no longer respond in anger, regardless of the situation, for there is no situation that I do not have a firm grip on the outcome. I am asking you to relax, listen to my voice inside of you, respond according to the voice of faith that I know you hear.

 There is no situation that I will not step into on your behalf! There is nothing that prevents you from calling upon my name; as you do you get to relax and watch the mediator do what he does best; you will be stunned. I am telling you this because of my deep love for you, and the fact that my approach is close at hand.

 The onslaughts are going to come with the purpose of distracting you from me, and the path that I have put you on. I urge to be awake and watch for me.

 Listen for the trumpet blast, you will hear it.

 Many will read this and scoff. To those I say, sleep on. I will know where your allegiance lies. No man will be denied my life and presence who calls upon my name.”

Allow me to explain something to you. When I get a word from the Lord, it seems that I sometimes only get two or three words. Sometimes it is an impression of some need. Occasionally, I am just told to go and be obedient and He fills in the blanks. Although much of what I received was at church this morning, during a time when I tend to be listening best, I was not in the best place to write this down. So let’s just say that some time passes and now you have the opportunity to recollect what was said.

One of my greatest desires would be to give the word exactly as I heard it, with clarity, and emotion, but in truth, much of that emotion is me.

If you are going to analyze the prophetic then you must remember that God uses people, and there is not a one of them that are not broken; some are retrained under the masters hand, but still broken, so there is always a measure of humanness involved.

These broken people are the same ones that God used to convey this book we call the bible. An example: God told Jonah to convey a message to Nineveh. If you will read the book you will see that Jonah’s brokenness got involved, for he says, “even when you told me to go, I knew you would be merciful to them.”

What is the problem with that? Nothing, mercy is a good thing, and thankfully God showed mercy on all of us, by having Christ shed his blood for us, but Jonah had some strong motivations to see these people dead, and was probably rooting for it.

I will tell you then that after I left church this morning, I drove for almost an hour, and stopped to eat. There I pulled out the pad and started transcribing what I remembered, and what he was now telling me as I wrote.

If you have not read any of my writings then you may not know my background, or should I say, heart. I was a young man when through combination of factors, I felt that God called me to be a prophet. In my mind’s eye I feel that God has called me to bolster staggering believers, those who may not even feel like believers, and those who are asleep. While this calling aspect may have happened over 30+ years ago I ran from it.

Now why would I do that? Well, for one, most folks, like many of you, balk at the idea. And some can be down right mean.

About seven years ago I made a foray into giving words that I felt were from the Lord publicly. While most were received well, there was a learning curve involved (I guess), and the last time I was really loud. Some took that to mean that God was mad at them, and they complained. (God will speak to you in a way that you understand. If he snaps at you to get your attention, then you would be wise to think of him as a Father that is correcting you, and nothing more. I would recommend a positive response from you, should he speak to you like that, because he is in all likelihood trying to save your life from some non-sense.) Anyway, the complaints got me shut down by the pastor that had originally encouraged me. What an odd world, but money talks.

There is a point to this. God is calling me back again, and if he tells me to put a word from the Spirit on the blog, then I must trust that he is speaking to someone directly. To be more direct, as I was receiving this word this morning, not only was I the target, but a brother that recently found my blog, who lives in Greece, was heavily upon my heart. I could see your face “lizam”.

Father, I ask now in the name of Jesus Christ, your Son, who gladly offered himself up in our behalf, to step into the life of my Athenian brother. I do not know how bad off he is now, but I am asking you Father to touch his body, his soul, his mind, and his pocket-book. Help him, heal him, and cover his bills. Father there are so many of us that struggle with anger, because this world is not a perfect place and we are broken. Remind those that read this that you love them deeply, with an everlasting love, and that you have already proved your love for them on the cross. Make Jesus Christ and the power of his name real to them, and give them an insatiable desire for your word. Father if all they have for your word is my blog, then cause even the simplest passage that I put on here, bring a light into their life that is able to shine through to someone else. Father I ask that my words become something that they can use on a daily basis. I this is you Father then bring those to this place that need to hear you. Grow inside of them like some kind of dynamo. As it spins, it creates more energy, and that energy is your life inside of them. Father, I ask that you fill their minds and hearts with visions of your glory, and if they do not know hook them now, and pull on them, until they find a believer to tell them about the Love that I have found in you.

The Spirit and the bride say come!3 Behold, he is at the door4. Awaken and watch for his coming. I long so much for you to be there, and not have to go through the tribulation that is coming. Look around you, and you can see the devastation approaching. Some already have it at their doorstep, and we need to pray God’s protection over them when ever possible.

Those who have a heart for him will come.

1John 18:10 Then Simon Peter having a sword drew it, and smote the high priest’s servant, and cut off his right ear.

2Jeremiah 32:17 …there is nothing too hard for thee:

3Revelation 22:17 BBE And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him who gives ear, say, Come. And let him who is in need come; and let everyone desiring it take of the water of life freely.

4Revelation 3:20 KJV Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.

Posted in End times, Hope, Thoughts | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Where can I get some oil?

Posted on 01/14/2012 by remso

I have a very sporadic schedule, so on occasions I stop very early for breakfast. This is my quiet time before work, and something that I find essential. I have to spend time with the Lord each day. The more the better.

It was on one of these morning stops that I met Rick and Demetri. These men have met two days a week at this restaurant for some time now. I know this because for several years I have avoided them. Now why would I do that?

Three reasons: 

  1. I had my own agenda, spending time with my Father, and really did not want to interrupt that.
  2. This collection of men bring in a small mountain of study books, and I felt like this was going to be way over my head. Cover of "The Shack"
  3. I knew one of the men personally. The man I know has a Doctorate in Theology, and has used it as a club against me on several occasions One of those clubbings was after I had read the book “The Shack”. That book changed my outlook on who God was. I had never known such a loving God prior to that, but when I began to converse with my Doctorate “friend”, he informed me rather quickly that our conversation was over, as he did not have time such weak theology. Obviously he did not have time for me either. This was not the first time he had been so blatantly rude to me, but I thought I would give it one last try.

I had not seen my Doctorate friend at the restaurant for some time, and he was not there on this particular morning either. I came in with my rather large and obvious bible (as a side note – many now have the Bible on their phones and iPad. Hey, that’s great, but I want you know who I am and what I stand for. Not religion, but Jesus Christ, our salvation and soon coming king. With a phone stuck in my face, I am just another rude person, tuning everybody else out with their toy.), and they invited me to join them.

At first I turned them down, but after several seconds passed I asked what the topic of discussion was that day. Rick responded with, “the end times.” Now you have my attention. So I told them to bring on the battle, because I am in.

There was no battle. I found these two men to be very sincere, desirous of the knowledge of God, as I am, and both have hearts that love God. Demetri is Greek, and offers tremendous help with words and insight in the culture. Rick worked in finance and was a Pastor. I am not sure if he still is or not. I do know that he loves to talk, a lot. I have met with them on several occasions and recently asked for Rick’s input on what the oil represented in Matthew 25’s parable of the ten virgins.

It had only been a few days since I had mentioned this question to Rick, and I knew that he had other more pressing demands upon him, but he gave me a one page, handwritten answer. I was surprised and immediately began reading it.

Oh my; his response, was safe, non-nondescript, lacking in power, and said absolutely nothing. He either missed the point, did not get the point, or did not have time.

If I do not know the answer to the question, I will not stop until I find out what the answer is. – I happen to think that the answers are here in this book we call the Bible, if you are willing to look for them. (This makes me think of the X files television show. I actually liked it, a lot.)

First, there may be nothing more to the oil, than something that helps to create light, but we will explore that. Secondly, I am not so sure that I have a solid answer yet, but at least I will tell you that, and I will not let that stop me from exploring logical possibilities.

How’s that for an introduction. Now let’s dive in.

 “Then the kingdom of heaven will be like 10 virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the groom. Five of them were foolish and five were sensible. When the foolish took their lamps, they didn’t take olive oil with them. But the sensible ones took oil in their flasks with their lamps. Since the groom was delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep. “In the middle of the night there was a shout: ‘Here’s the groom! Come out to meet him.’ “Then all those virgins got up and trimmed their lamps. But the foolish ones said to the sensible ones, ‘Give us some of your oil, because our lamps are going out.’ “The sensible ones answered, ‘No, there won’t be enough for us and for you. Go instead to those who sell, and buy oil for yourselves.’ “When they had gone to buy some, the groom arrived. Then those who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet, and the door was shut. “Later the rest of the virgins also came and said, ‘Master, master, open up for us! ’ “But he replied, ‘I assure you: I do not know you! ’ “Therefore be alert, because you don’t know either the day or the hour. (Matthew 25:1-13, HCSB)

  1. The lamps were quite small and had to be filled often. Taking more oil would have the been the only wise choice. An obvious factor here is that there is not an inexhaustible supply, and the lamps must be filled.
  2. The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia states: the Figurative Use of “Lamp” is in the sense of a guide in Psalm 119:105; Proverb 6:23, and for the spirit, which is called the lamp of Yahweh in man (Proverbs 20:27), and it of course often signifies the light itself. It is used also for the son who is to succeed and represent his father (1Kings 15:4), and it perhaps is employed in this sense in the phrase, “The lamp of the wicked shall be put out” (Job 21:17; Proverbs 13:9; and perhaps Job 18:6).
  3. The sensible or wise ones took extra oil in their flasks. If this represents the Holy Spirit, we have nothing that tells us that we have the ability to store up extra for future usage. It occurs to that it, like manna, is given for the short-term. Manna had to be gathered daily; it did not store; you had to consume it all, and it gave you sustenance for a duration. The Holy Spirit is so like that. Much like food, it drives the spirit of man for a time, but some aspect tends to burn out and needs to be refilled. Ephesians 5:18 CJB Don’t get drunk with wine, because it makes you lose control. Instead, keep on being filled with the Spirit – Read that and ponder the contrasts between wine, the reasons, the excess, and what God is offering us in exchange.
  4. The unwise, or non-sensible ones had to go to those who sell the oil and attempt to buy more. Just the fact that oil was needed implies that it was dark outside. Where were they going to buy oil in the middle of the night? If the oil is representative of the Holy Spirit, then who is trying to sell the Holy Spirit? If you will recall Peter and John had to deal with such an incident when Simon the “former” sorcerer asked if he could buy the gift of laying on of hands. That got him in some hot water. Sadly, I believe that some evangelists border on such nonsense. They will in a round about way try to sell you anything. The Holy Spirit is freely given, therefore while it may play a role in this scenario, it is not the primary aspect.
  5. The fact that the lamps were small and required frequent refillings should be a clue as to how our lives should be lived. I believe our lives should be lived as though we are in a pursuit. A.W. Tozer has a book, which I have not read, called Knowledge of the Holy. I am on a daily pursuit of knowledge about the one that chose to redeem me and call me his own.
  6. The five, had no oil because: The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep. (Matthew 25:5 NIV) I have been accosted with argument even with my writings. They say stuff like, it has been over 2000 years, relax, don’t get so worked up, have fun, and this is from a pastor acquaintance of mine. I do not believe that we are to do anything but live life on the edge, and trust me, putting yourself out there and living like Peter did in the book of Acts, is about as on the edge as you can get. When I step outside myself, outside my little protective mode, and throw myself on the line in faith, I have never felt so alive.
  7. One last aspect to ponder is that all ten thought they were going to the wedding. We might equate that to the rapture of the church, or perhaps the harpazo/snatching away works better for you. One of thoughts that I cannot walk away from here, is that these were not cute stories that Jesus told, but analogies of what was to come, and this tells me that 50% are not going to make the first bus out of here. Do you realize what the implications of that are? If you do not make the first pass out of here, then you will have to prove your allegiance to God by being beheaded. While that is not a good thing, by any stretch, it gets worse. Isaiah tells us that they will dash your children upon stones before you. Now it is dramatically worse, and I strongly suggest that you get a backbone in a big hurry.

The five that were not ready is attributed to being drowsy and falling asleep.

I have had the opportunity to hang out with another bunch of senior citizens, that happen to all be Christians as well, but there is a difference, they do not meet because they wish to expand their horizons and knowledge with a discussion about the living God. In fact they will divert rather quickly if it gets to intense.

Strangely, I have had a couple of very interesting moments hanging out with them. A young Christian man, from the university across the street used to come in and sit close by. On two occasions I gave him a word that I felt was from the Lord. I get as much pleasure out of doing that as the person receiving the word might. But I will tell you that even as I was delivering this word to the young man, in a public place, the Pastor that was sitting with us, was giving me the stink eye.

I have tried to talk with this Pastor about end times events, and he wants no part of it. All he seems to want to say to me is, “just be happy, enjoy life, and there is no real trouble.” Good Lord, that man is asleep at the wheel. An interesting thing, my Dad went on a cruise recently with his church group, the pastor included. The pastor told them that he did not want anyone asking him religious questions or referring to him as pastor while they were together on the ship. Is there something terribly wrong with this picture. Although this is where I used to attend church when I was young, I have had no compulsion to go there for a long time. I wonder why.

I get excited because God’s word make me feel alive. I have always had a desire to understand end times and now suddenly, in this last year things have become so clear to me. I have gained an understanding of what Islam believes, and how they parallel our end times prophecy with precision. The players in the prophecies of Islam fit like a glove when you read the Revelation. To be honest, I do not understand why God has not come yet. When I tell people about the timing of things, I tell them we are no longer generations away, the clock is down to mere minutes, Jesus return is that close.

Cover of "The Islamic Antichrist: The Sho...

Cover via Amazon

 

 

The President of Iran, Ahmadinejad, has stated openly on three occasions, as he addressed the United Nations general assembly, that he has been called to usher in the awaited one, the Mahdi. This man is said to come in the midst of confusion and chaos, and he is willing to make that happen. Has anyone looked around the world lately. Folks, chaos is coming in the form of Islam, and it is riding a war-horse. Just today, 1/10/2012, Yahoo posts a picture of an obscure nuclear production site in Iran that is heavily defended with surface to air missiles. Why would you need that level of protection for an electric plant? You don’t, you need it for an atomic bomb production facility.

I could go on for pages on this stuff, but here is the point. If these five, who were wanting to go to the wedding, gathered in the same place as those that went, ran out of oil, then I want that oil. Maybe the oil is little more than desire, and anxious pursuit. I watch for him as a watchman on guard duty might. Scanning the horizon I see what is going on in the distance (The middle East. Folks, if you are watching the middle east, do not for a minute think that what is happening there is not quietly creeping up into your back yard.)

The Bible tells us what to look for and Israel becoming a nation is a major clue. Jesus said:

“Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door. Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.

(Matthew 24:32-34 NIV)

The tree is in full bloom, and it almost seems as though the fruit is about to plucked off the tree.

Posted in End times, Thoughts on scripture | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

This will help me understand? (Said with an accent)

Posted on 01/08/2012 by remso

I had asked a Jehovah Witness friend from work some questions about end times, because I wanted to get his take on it.

He threw out his answer and then said, you should read this. It happened to be this booklet.

“What does the Bible teach?” written by the Jehovah Witnesses.

He stated, “this will help you understand the Bible.”

I chose to begin with chapter 9 as the chapter topic is: “Are we living in the last days?

That subject is my passion as of late, and I study it with consistency. I do not claim to be an expert, but I am getting better at it with everyday. I have also noticed that in discussions with other Christians I am getting canned answers. This demonstrates to me how little they read, apply logic and truly attempt to understand the scriptures. It also demonstrates how unwilling they are to think outside the box that religion has put them in.

 Do I have all the answers? No, but I am willing to ask and find out. I truly believe that if there is a question, the answer is in this book called the Bible, not some book by the Jehovah Witness. I also think that there are questions that are not to be answered down here. Daniel is an example of this. The angel told him that the understanding for what he saw was not to known then, but later; folks, the later is now.

 With the rise of Islam, and knowledge of what they believe, suddenly the book of Revelation and why Jesus comes at the end of the Great Tribulation with such a vengeance makes all the sense in the world to me.

 The 9th chapter of the booklet immediately asks 3 questions.

  1. What events in our time were foretold in the Bible?

  2. What does God’s word say people would be like in “the last days”?

  3. Regarding “the last days”, what good things does the Bible foretell?

 The first scripture reference is to James 4:14. They do not elaborate but my friend says look these up in your bible. I can assure you that they are not looking these scriptures up themselves or they would be screaming foul. This idea of looking up the scriptures for yourself is something that, as believers, we should all be doing. It reduces the ability for someone to deceive you, because you will be applying intelligence to what you hear and read, and judging it in contrast to what “the Word” says.

 What do you know about tomorrow? How can you be so sure about your life? It is nothing more than mist that appears for only a little while before it disappears.

(James 4:14 CEV)

 The booklet makes the statement: “Tragic things happen so suddenly that no human can predict what tomorrow will bring“. While there is logic to this, you should rarely take scripture out context. That is precisely what the JW’s have done.

 Here is the entire passage

“.. God is our judge, and he can save or destroy us. What right do you have to condemn anyone? You should know better than to say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to the city. We will do business there for a year and make a lot of money!” What do you know about tomorrow? How can you be so sure about your life? It is nothing more than mist that appears for only a little while before it disappears. You should say, “If the Lord lets us live, we will do these things.” Yet you are stupid enough to brag, and it is wrong to be so proud. If you don’t do what you know is right, you have sinned.” (James 4:12-17 CEV)

 While things can happen that are tragic, and sudden, the biggest impact seems to be from not acknowledging God as being in control. One commentary that I read suggests that the person on the receiving end of these tragic events is self-willed and arrogant.

The booklet goes on to say that: “however, Jehovah knows what the future holds.”

Again, that is common sense to someone who reads scripture, but what about the person that does not. To back up this statement the booklet uses Isaiah 46:10 as their scripture reference.

Let’s look at Isaiah 46:10

(KJV) Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:

Again, the student of scripture knows that God knows the end before it ever begins, but this passage speaks about a God that decrees how it will be more than it speaks about him knowing, and it has a context.

Isaiah 46:9-11 NIV Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me. (10) I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.’ (11) From the east I summon a bird of prey; from a far-off land, a man to fulfill my purpose. What I have said, that I will bring about; what I have planned, that I will do.

The overall context is that God is in control and he honors his word. If anything this passage tells me that God can be trusted and regardless of what comes, he has my best interest at heart.

Look at Isaiah 46:4 NIV Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.

There is nothing about this passage that warns of tragedy coming. Unforeseen events are a daily part of life. Tribulations, though not the Great one of scripture, are a daily part of life, and yet God brings hope. Did you ever wonder where the Apostle Peter or Paul got their information? Right here. God says, “I made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you. This theme begins to pop up all over scripture, but the bottom line is that God is in control.

The last two verses of Isaiah are a radical statement against those that refuse to give God the glory. Read these:

Isaiah 46:12-13 NIV Listen to me, you stubborn-hearted, you who are now far from my righteousness. (13) I am bringing my righteousness near, it is not far away; and my salvation will not be delayed. I will grant salvation to Zion, my splendor to Israel.

“Jesus Christ spoke about the kingdom of God which will bring an end to wickedness and make the earth a paradise.” (I will refer to the booklet as JWB from this point on.)

Their scripture reference is Luke 4:43. Alright let’s look at that passage.

Luke 4:43 NIV But he said, “I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent.”

Once again, the student of scripture knows that the command was given in Mark 16:15 to go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.

But, what is the context?

Luke 4:40-44 NIV At sunset, the people brought to Jesus all who had various kinds of sickness, and laying his hands on each one, he healed them. (41) Moreover, demons came out of many people, shouting, “You are the Son of God!” But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew he was the Messiah. (42) At daybreak, Jesus went out to a solitary place. The people were looking for him and when they came to where he was, they tried to keep him from leaving them. (43) But he said, “I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent.” (44) And he kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea.

People had been coming to him steadily. Why, because they got something out of him. Not necessarily because they believed that he was the Messiah that they had waited for, but because he did not turn them away. Who wouldn’t come? He feeds and heals people, and no one has done that before.

While the people may not have understood who he was, the demons sure did, and they shouted out who he was as they came out at his command. Having been exhausted by all this he had found a quiet place, as was his custom. They found him again, and tried to prevent him from leaving. Now you get Jesus response, “I must proclaim the good news to other towns also”. And so he kept on preaching in other synagogues of Judea.

This passage is once again a thin example and should not be used as the backbone of your argument. It does define the statement: “Jesus Christ spoke about the kingdom of God which will bring an end to wickedness and make the earth a paradise.” While he did tell the people that he had to declare the good news of the kingdom, his main purpose here, it does not say what he preached and the result. That kind of assumption is pure conjecture here. There is a context here and this is not it.

If you gain anything from Jesus interaction with the people, you should come to understand that Jesus said what he meant, and meant what he said. He did go and preach the gospel to others, in so many ways.

There is nothing in this that even remotely backs the statement that he will make earth a paradise. I do though, believe the heaven will be exactly like this, paradise. Why do I think that? Because God make the earth, and all creation perfect in the day that he made it. Try looking that up! It was paradise, but paradise became subject to corruption just as man did. Revelation tells us that this earth and the heavens will be destroyed.

What the disciples asked was a very Jewish question, for they all understood that a Messiah would come and reign. The question was also asked to define when the destruction would come? Think about it, Jesus had told them that every stone in the temple would be thrown down. That happened in a relatively short period, but do you claim that as the forerunner to your paradise.

What Jesus spoke of is the most exciting time on earth. While there will be unparalleled destruction coming, it is also a time where those who have a relationship with Him, will be rescued out of here, and those that remain will have to make a stand for God or bow to the beast / man and give your allegiance to the god he worships. If you know anything about Islam then you would know that the beast will take the role of the Islamic Mahdi, and you have to bow your knee to Allah. Doing this is a personal affront to God and all that he represents. Why? Because he paid for you with his own blood, an act of Love that surpasses anything that man could ever do, and yet man still choose to give his allegiance to Satan, the power that the Mahdi / Beast embodies.

Those who are not established in hope have nothing to look forward to but fear and dread. Try reading the book of Revelation for yourself. You will find the judgments of the seals, the bowls, and the trumpets. All this is going on at the same time the Islam is trying to weed out those that will attempt to resist its false prophet.

I have a hope that I can anchor on two things, even though there is so much more.

1Peter 1:3 tells me that: “..he has (Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God, my Savior and soon coming King.) caused me to be born again into a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,”

This passage ends with a comma, therefore the thought continues:

1 Peter 1:4 KJV To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fades not away, reserved in heaven for you,

Another comma. I am getting to where I love commas because each one gets better. Now I have an incorruptible and undefiled inheritance, a promise that will not fade away, reserved in heaven for me. But not just me, anyone who calls on the name of the Lord as their own. Jesus I need you and want you in my life. How I have lived without you I do not know. Come into me as you promised and let the rivers of living water flow from me as you promised. I turn my life over you and give you control, now take control of me and bring me into your kingdom.

1 Peter 1:5 KJV Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

While Jesus himself is a strong anchor that easily stands alone, another one that I learned to lean upon is one that Jesus himself stated, and the Apostle Peter reinforced, and expounded upon.

Jesus said, these last days would be as in the days of Noah.

Matthew 24:37 KJV But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

Read the whole thing and then put some thought into what the implications are.

The saga begins in Genesis 6:5 and continues through Genesis chapter 7. Even as Noah worked upon the Ark evil and the threat of destruction stood outside the door step.

An important passage to note in this is Genesis 7:16.

Genesis 7:16 KJV And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the LORD shut him in.

 In terms of a guarantee and hope, destruction is literally coming like a flood and God shuts the door behind them. One might even conjecture that God could not release the floods until Noah and his family were safely inside the Ark, protected. That is not such a far-fetched idea.

Look at 2 Peter chapter 2. Peter describes God’s salvation of Noah, but takes it a step further and includes Lot. God warned that he would destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. After sending angels and telling Lot and his family to get out, Lot hesitates. The angels had to physically escort them out, stating that we can do nothing until you are safe.

Genesis 19:16-22 NIV When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the LORD was merciful to them. (17) As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, “Flee for your lives! Don’t look back, and don’t stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!” (18) But Lot said to them, “No, my lords, please! (19) Your servant has found favor in your eyes, and you have shown great kindness to me in sparing my life. But I can’t flee to the mountains; this disaster will overtake me, and I’ll die. (20) Look, here is a town near enough to run to, and it is small. Let me flee to it–it is very small, isn’t it? Then my life will be spared.” (21) He said to him, “Very well, I will grant this request too; I will not overthrow the town you speak of. (22) But flee there quickly, because I cannot do anything until you reach it.” (That is why the town was called Zoar.)

Here is the key to this, and an aspect of the believers hope.

2 Peter 2:9-10 NIV if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment. (10) This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the flesh and despise authority. Bold and arrogant, they are not afraid to heap abuse on celestial beings;

“In fact, Jesus disciples asked: ‘what will be the sign of your presence and of the conclusion of the system of things?’” JWB

This is supposed to be a quote from Matthew 24:3. Let’s just look at that a moment.

Matthew 24:3 NIV As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”

So what was going on that the disciples should ask this question.

Matthew 24:1-2 NIV Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. (2) “Do you see all these things?” he asked. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.“

Jesus told them that the temple would be thrown down. This happened in 70 A.D., at the hand of Titus. While many felt that this was the end of the world, it was not.

No one asks, “what will be the sign of your presence.”JWB

Presence

PRES’ENCE, n. s as z. [L. proesentia; proe, before, and esse, to be.] The existence of a person or thing in a certain place; opposed to absence.

Are you serious, God, as a man, was sitting before them, answering their questions. He had not, as far as we know, explained to them that he going back to the Father, so how could this be an aspect of their thinking. They no more believed he was the Messiah, than any of the Pharisees that plague him.

 Revelation 1:7 NIV “Look, he is coming with the clouds,” and “every eye will see him, even those who pierced him”; and all peoples on earth “will mourn because of him.” So shall it be! Amen.

 If you make the claim that Jesus returned to the earth in 1914 or when else, then you have taken the role of deceiver, or as Revelation calls him the anti-Christ. Trying to make people believe that Jesus acted outside of Truth makes you no less destructive than the False Prophet himself.

So if you now have people looking for signs of some presence then they will waste their time unproductively at everything but the Truth. Jesus himself said that he was the Way, the Truth, and the Life. John testified that he, Jesus, was the Word of God, and the ONLY begotten Son. Standing around, not looking at the Truth, but looking for what they don’t know, millions will be deceived, and be caught off guard.

One way that will happen: Islam despises “the people of the book”. In truth, this is the scripture, the Truth, that leads men to Jesus Christ, the Son, and none other. But Islam too has its prophecies. One of which calls for the appearance of Jesus. Not the Son of God, but the son of Mary. They call him Isa ben Mariam, and he is just a man.

  1. He is definitely a Jew, of the Aaronic line, therefore qualified to be a high priest in the rebuilt Jewish temple. (That will become very important in a minute.)
  2. How is it that Muslims that hate Jews, are awaiting one? Because he is also a Muslim. When he comes he will be asked to say a prayer over the battle that is to take place. He defers to the Mahdi (the beast of Revelation, and leader of Islam at this time.) For him to defer to the Mahdi is to show a strong allegiance and subservience to Allah, not God the creator.
  3. This Jesus of Islam is said to barter a peace treaty with Israel with those Muslim nations that have surrounded Israel, as they move in to destroy it.
  4. He is said to produce lost documents that will prove that the Messiah that Israel seeks is all wrong.
  5. He is said to produce the lost Ark of the covenant.
  6. Many will be deceived. This may include those outside the Jewish faith.
  7. He is said to have complete access to the temple.
  8. He is said to be the enforcer of global Sharia law. That law allows for the beheading of those that oppose Islam.

So back to the obscure allusion to an answer to the question that the disciples asked. When Jesus responded to their question, what was the first thing he said. The JWB did not bother to mention that. Jesus said, “SEE TO IT THAT YOU BE NOT DECEIVED!” Considering what I just described above, why else would he have said that? We have a clear definition of when Jesus will come back to earth. Scripture tells us that he is coming in the clouds and every eye will see him. He is not sneaking in some back door, and only the Jehovah’s Witness will have knowledge of it. He is not showing up in some Nebraska corn field. He is going to plant his feet upon the Mount of Olives, and that Mount will split in two, as though some great earthquake had hit. This happens very explicitly at the end of the seven years of “Great Tribulation”. That also coincides with the seven-year reign of the beast/Mahdi. That also happens to be three and a half years after the beast breaks the peace treaty with Israel, and the be-headings have continued for some time.

If you were not aware, the Great Tribulation is a time of judgment upon the nations of the earth, so do not expect Christ to be coming with anything but a sword. If you actually read scripture then you should understand that a third of the earths population will be killed by various methods. We are told that if God did not shorten time, no one would survive what is coming.

Why would I tell you any of this?

Because only knowing the truth will set you free. There is only one truth, and his name is Jesus Christ, the lamb of God, the risen one.

2 Peter chapter 2 gives you the precedent. God will save his righteous ones, but as with Noah and Lot, it will be at your doorstep, and on the razors edge.

Righteous is what he makes those that humble themselves and come to him. He is in control, not you, and there is nothing you can do to make yourself righteous.

Having forgiven the world of the sin debt that we owed and could not pay, he made it possible for us to give ourselves freely to the Father. The Father gave his Son to die so that the family relationship could be restored. This is what Adam had in the beginning. If you cannot relate because your image of a family is skewed, then consider this. The earth represents a large adoption agency, and just like a legitimate one here, a price had to be paid. God comes down and takes a look to see if there is someone he wishes to bring home with him. Having looked around he decided that he had to have them all. He pays the price for all, signs the paperwork, and says come on and get in the truck. All anyone has to do is to sign the paperwork indicating that you wish to join him, and go jump in the truck. Here is the good news, He has not pulled away yet. That day will come soon. That does not mean that you are not welcome to come, it merely means that you may now have to sign the paperwork with your own blood as they chop off your head.

Many see this love and run to him, others may see it as something momentarily better than the conditions here, and others, with their bad attitudes sign on, sneering that I will try it out. Matters not, God takes you in. Some will struggle with that concept, but what does scripture say,

Romans 5:8 NIV But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Imagine if you had adopted and older child, set in their ways. They state openly, I will come with you, but don’t expect me to do anything!” Do you understand that love himself gave his life for world that had nothing but a huge chip on their shoulder.

 You really want to know what the sign of his presence is?

It came in the form of a baby in a manger. It was placed upon a cross to die. It rose again from the dead that I might live. It died for a world for a world that did not deserve it, and it promises us a life, beyond imagination, with Him, in Glory. The best part is, anybody is welcome to come.

“..and of the conclusion of the system of things?”

If you are going to throw something at me as scripture, then try using scripture. They did not ask him this, you are only conjecturing when you make a statement like this. Charles Taze Russell was disproved in a court of law as a charlatan that knew no Greek, therefore all his writings and claims were proven to be falsehoods, that he was using to gain monetary means.

On the other hand, scripture has withstood the test of time, and still brings men into knowledge of a loving God, that wishes above all else to restore his relationship with man.

If Jesus disciples asked him what would be the sign of the end of the world, then wouldn’t that be the end of all of us as well, unless of course you actually have a hope, based upon your relationship of Love with him.

Posted in Deception, Thoughts | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Then we should be moving heaven and earth

Posted on 01/05/2012 by remso

I cannot seem to help it. I get so involved in passages of scripture or an intended study that I lose contact with the outside world. That is not necessarily a bad thing as most of world offers me nothing. Don’t get me wrong, I love art, music, a good play, and of nature. But the soap opera of life just drags me down, and I really do not care who won the lousy ball game. That being said I decided to read the book of Acts, again.

There is a background motivation for that. I get information from Chuck Misler’s organization, and he, in describing an aspect found in the book of Acts got me interested once again.

 (Acts 1:1-3 KJV)

The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen: To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God:

 Allow me to shorten this, in an effort to get to the point.

….all that Jesus began both to do and teach, Until the day in which he was taken up,

…To whom also he shewed himself alive

….by many infallible proofs,

…being seen of them forty days,

…and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God:

 I want so badly to know what he said to them.

 Proofs:

  • The correctness of operations in mathematics are ascertained by proof.
  • Any effort, process or operation that ascertains truth or fact.
  • That degree of evidence which convinces the mind of the certainty of truth of fact, and produces belief.
  • Proof is derived from personal knowledge, or from the testimony of others, or from conclusive reasoning.

To be infallible is to be beyond dispute. The quality of being incapable of error or mistake. There is no room for argument, at least of a logical nature.

HE IS ALIVE; he is truth; he is coming, just as he said he would; there is a heaven, just as he said, and he is taking us there with him.

See it, feel it, and you can almost taste it, it is so real.

 While he was still with them, he said: Don’t leave Jerusalem yet. Wait here for the Father to give you the Holy Spirit, just as I told you he has promised to do. (Acts 1:4 CEV)

 And so they stayed. Acts chapter 2:16 finds them being filled with the Holy Spirit of God and speaking with other tongues, tongues that seem to cover the gamut of foreign languages that had come to Jerusalem. Many thought they were drunk. Yeah right!

Peter, is back with a vengeance, and jumps up to speak. Here is a portion of what he said:

 But this is what God had the prophet Joel say,

“When the last days come, I will give my Spirit to everyone. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions, and your old men will have dreams. In those days I will give my Spirit to my servants, both men and women, and they will prophesy. I will work miracles in the sky above and wonders on the earth below. There will be blood and fire and clouds of smoke. The sun will turn dark, and the moon will be as red as blood before the great and wonderful day of the Lord appears. Then the Lord will save everyone who asks for his help.” (Acts 2:16-21 CEV)

 “it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh…”

Dake’s notes state that the Jews understood this term “in the last days” to mean in “the days of the Messiah.”

 Some thoughts about this. This could apply to the time that he was, and will be physically here. – OK, that gets blown out of water quickly, because only a short time before this he ascended. That means he left the earth.

 Perhaps “ the days of the Messiah” is “the day of the Lord”. One could logically make that assumption because Peter associates Joel’s prophecy with that time frame, therefore “the day of Lord” began at that point. There are things that happen around us that might make you believe that.

 Allow me to explore some aspects of Joel’s prophecy.

Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy hill. Let all who live in the land tremble, for the day of the LORD is coming. It is close at hand– a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness. Like dawn spreading across the mountains a large and mighty army comes, such as never was in ancient times nor ever will be in ages to come. (Joel 2:1-2 NIV)

 As you can see from this he is talking about the time of judgment.

 The LORD thunders at the head of his army; his forces are beyond number, and mighty is the army that obeys his command. The day of the LORD is great; it is dreadful. Who can endure it? (Joel 2:11 NIV)

 Now it appears that he speaking of the time at the end of the Great Tribulation, if the army of the Lord is coming. Still we are speaking in terms of judgment.

 “And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days. I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD. (Joel 2:28-31 NIV)

 While this sounds like a glorious time when God will speak through his people, there is still a reference to the dreadful day of the Lord.

 As I read through Joel’s prophecy recently, I was taken by the statement “in the last days”. Throughout scripture this has been associated with the times of judgment and the Lord’s return.

 Here is a problem I have with the timing of Joel’s prophecy.

 If that time began, then it opened the door to the day of the prophet. If that is the case, then we should be moving heaven and earth at the mention of Jesus name.

 A short story.

For a time I rented a room from a friend. As we sat and watched the evening news many years ago, they gave a minute by minute news update about a hurricane about to slam into the Galveston Texas coastline. I turned to him and said, “you know, scripture tells us that the oceans are bound by the coastline and not allowed to cross them.” Puzzled he just looked at me. I said, “ watch this”, and I prayed, out loud there in front of him. “In the name of Jesus I command this hurricane to honor those boundaries and turn back out to sea.” In a matter of minutes the newscaster came back on and said, “we are all puzzled and pleased, as the hurricane has just turned back out to sea.” Several minutes passed and it was reduced to merely a wet wind storm. My friend was visibly shaken by the power of God.

 Don’t you realize that God intended for this to be our lifestyle. It has been religion and fear of failure that has prevented you from living like this.

 I cannot begin to describe what I feel right now. It is like standing out in the most beautiful place ever seen, experiencing a one of kind sunrise, and you are standing there taking it all in as the colors of a new day explode upon the palette of the sky.

 How would your world change if you knew your words were dynamic and alive, charged by the Spirit of the Living God?

 They Are! Those days are upon us. God is drawing Muslims from around the world to him through dreams and visions.

 What is God saying to you? I know that he has spoken to many of you, and he has called you to come to him. He was standing there with arms open wide, motioning for you to come. Run to him, and Jesus Christ the risen one will come into your life if you will ask him. Allow him to have the control in your life and you will gain a freedom that you never thought possible.

Posted in End times, Hope, Thoughts, Thoughts on scripture | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments